Thousands attend special Mass for immigrants at Los Angeles cathedral

Our Lady of Angels Cathedral was filled to standing room only for a special Mass with the relic of Santo Toribio and immigration reform.
photos by David Crane — Staff Photographer

LOS ANGELES >> Maria Alcantara of La Habra has tasted the American dream but has yet to fully live it.

Alcantara was 13 years old when her parents brought her and her two younger brothers to the United States illegally to escape a life of poverty, government corruption and the effects of organized crime. Thanks to her parents’ decision, she said, she graduated from Sonora High School with high honors and is preparing to attend UC Santa Cruz in the fall. Yet Alcantara still dreams of living a life without fear of deportation or separation from her family.

“I’m here today with my heart in my hand to ask for mercy and compassion for me and the millions of immigrants that are in the country living in darkness,” Alcantara, 18, said in Spanish at a special Mass for immigrants Sunday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. “This isn’t only about politics. This is about human rights for everyone.”

Alcantara was among thousands of Roman Catholic faithful from around the region who flocked to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to pray for immigrants and comprehensive immigration reform. Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, who was born in Monterey, Mexico, and is the first Latino Archbishop of the Los Angeles archdiocese, presided over the service that also brought together worshippers from the Dioceses of Orange and San Bernardino. This is the third consecutive year the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has organized a special Mass in recognition of all immigrants but for many, a surge of unaccompanied minors crossing the Southwest border mainly from Central America and stalled immigration reform in Congress have given these prayers a new sense of urgency.

While America was built by the blood and sacrifice of missionaries and immigrants, it seems that some aren’t so welcoming of immigrants anymore, Gomez said.

“We are all thinking about the tens of thousands of children who have been coming across our border who are sent by their parents who are trying to save them from poverty and violence,” he said. “I just cannot imagine how sad and desperate they must be, those mothers and fathers who have to make that kind of decision.”

Gomez said it is the community’s responsibility to protect the children and to treat immigrants with hospitality and compassion. Regarding comprehensive immigration reform, he said, “there is no need to wait anymore.”

Worshippers also had the chance to pay homage Sunday to the relic of Santo Toribio Romo, who is considered a beloved saint of immigrants for many who cross the Southwest border. A bone from his left ankle — encased in a large statue of the saint — has been on loan from the saint’s home chapel in Jalisco, Mexico, touring various parishes in the region over the last two weeks.

Some border crossers have said they have seen images and received guidance from Santo Toribio, a Catholic priest who was killed by federal troops in an uprising against Mexico’s anti-Catholic government in 1928, while making the trek into the United States.

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This is the first time the relic has been on tour in Southern California, said Doris Benavides, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Mexican-American immigrant Enrique Lopez, 45, of La Verne — who entered the county illegally some 25 years ago — was among those escorting the statue of Santo Toribio as a Knight of Columbus during a Mass procession.

Lopez, who said he was helped by many in his community to become a citizen years ago, said he was participating Sunday in an effort to always be a guard, a soldier and a protector for the church.

“I feel like we have to give this opportunity to anybody because we all deserve that,” Lopez said before the procession. “Whether we’re white, yellow or brown, we’re all the same. It’s for all those poor kids, those poor immigrants. Everyone deserves a chance.”

Italian-American Nicolo Sammartano, 59, drove up from San Diego with his wife, Tonnie, and two of their six children to attend the Mass for immigrants. Sammartano’s father first came to the country from Italy in 1963 and was offered a contract that allowed him to stay, he said.

Sammartano and his other two siblings joined him in the states about three years later.

“For me, I see the suffering and sacrifices that my parents did by giving us a better opportunity here in the United States,” Sammartano said.

“Their prayers were answered. I came here to not only give support to this (event) but give thanks.”

Tonnie Sammartano noted the government has real issues with immigrants crossing the border illegally and has yet to figure out what do with them.

“I can’t say I’m on one side or the other because I understand both sides,” Tonnie Sammartano, a dance instructor, said. “But my heart goes out to these young families and children who are experiencing real hardship and I don’t know what that feels like.”